Riot police disperse 1,500 students at UMass-Amherst following Super Bowl

AMHERST – Immediately following the end of the New England Patriots' loss in Super Bowl XLVI, thousands of students from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst erupted in a much-predicted riot outside the Southwest Residential Area.

Due to past large-scale disturbances at the flagship school in Amherst, a large contingent of UMass police, Amherst police and Massachusetts State Police assembled on campus well before the end of the game.

Police issued a dispersal order at 10:08 p.m. Sunday, about 15 minutes after a large crowd started gathering. Authorities used flashbang and smoke grenades to disperse the crowd as officers clad in riot gear and mounted police marched on the crowd.

The scene was chaotic as police moved in to clear the area. Students smashed bottles and set off firecrackers and other fireworks, and a fight broke out in the middle of a large mass of people. One student was seen scaling a building, while another was restrained by three officers.

Chants, including "U.S.A." and "[expletive] the Giants," and "[expletive] the police," could be heard rising from the mob, which eventually retreated.

A decision was made to break up the crowd when the number of students swelled to around 1,500, UMass-Amherst spokesman Edward Blaguszewski said.

"It was a large crowd and there was a need to issue a dispersal order to move them along," he said.

Other witnesses claimed as many as 3,000 people had gathered in the concrete concourse of the Southwest Residential Area, which is surrounded by several high-rise dormitories.

Blaguszewski said 13 UMass students and one non-student were arrested and charged with either failure to disperse or disorderly conduct. In addition to criminal charges, the students will face disciplinary action and a possible suspension from campus, he said.

The good news is that there were no apparent injuries, according to Blaguszewski.

"Police are saying there are no injuries and no damage. Certainly some fights broke out and there was rowdiness," he said.

Campus officials praised the handling of that incident, which resulted in no arrests.

Following the Patriots' 2008 loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII, when quarterback Eli Manning's game-winning touchdown pass with 35 seconds remaining vaulted New York to an upset victory, police made eight arrests after about 500 students mobbed the Southwest concourse. Riot police fired rubber bullets into the crowd and blocked off streets near the dorms.

Other UMass riots erupted when the Boston Red Sox lost in the 2008 playoffs; throughout the Sox' 2007 World Series run, after UMass lost in the Division I-AA football championship in 2006; after the Red Sox' World Series victory in 2004; after the Sox lost in the playoffs in 2003; following the Patriots' first Super Bowl victory over St. Louis in 2001; and as far back as 1986 after the Red Sox' World Series defeat, when a shouting match between hundreds of students escalated into racial altercations. In that incident, a black student was charged by 15-20 white students and beaten unconscious with golf clubs and baseball bats, according to archives from The Sunday Republican.

Since then, Internet video footage of these UMass riots has helped immortalize the raucous nights, making the activity a sort of rite of passage for some students.

"A whole part of the experience at UMass is being a part of the riot," said UMass sophomore Matt Criscuolo, 19, who traveled across campus from his dormitory in Central Residential Area to witness the occasion.

"This is where I went tonight because I wanted to experience it," Criscuolo said.

Ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl matchup, which pitted hometown teams from two of the university’s most-represented student bases, social media sites like Twitter and Facebook buzzed with riot predictions and promises as UMass administrators issued campuswide emails warning students about the consequences of their actions.

"People knew there was going to be a riot as soon as they made it into the Super Bowl," said 19-year-old UMass sophomore Jordan Liff, Criscuolo's roomate.

According to the Student Affairs and Campus Life "Acceptable Fan Behavior" policy, students' right to celebrate ends "where the rights of others and the law begin."

"The safety of our students is always our top priority. If crowds do congregate before, during, or after a game, the police will monitor the gathering to ensure the safety of everyone," Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Life Jean Kim said in an email Thursday.

Kim said that once a dispersal order is issued, it's no longer acceptable to be "just hanging around." Those who refuse to disperse may be subject to arrest and administrative sanctions, she said.

Former UMass football player and New York Giants' star receiver Victor Cruz, in a pre-game message on Vimeo, encouraged students to "watch the game, be safe, enjoy the parties, and don't hurt anybody or anything." In the week leading up to Sunday's big game, the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, UMass' student-run newspaper, published three stories on the prospective celebration, including one that gauged student opinion and a pair of editorials on riots past and pending.

However, some felt the overwhelming attention and vigilance from officials ahead of Sunday’s game only made the riot that much more likely.

“I felt like all these emails we’re getting from the administration is just giving everyone the idea,” UMass junior Nick Gross said Sunday afternoon. Gross lived in the Southwest dorms last year and witnessed last spring’s celebration.